Magny Cours: any bets?

rusnak · 06-18-2008, 03:05 PM

With Hammy out of the picture, no way is he going to get PP with a hevy fuel load, and he'll be lucky to finish in the points.

Sooo...I think Raikonnen might get pp, and 1rst. Magny Cours has such tight hairpins you have to wonder if this is a Ferrari track, with a premium on putting the power to the ground out of the corners, elongating the straights. Massa is not so great on greasy tracks wo traction control, and France has a very smooth racing surface. I think the short pit in and pit out may make more teams consider a 3 stopper, which may play out some interesting strategy unless Force India craps out again on track and brings out the safety car.

I say maybe Massa second, Kubica 3rd, Kovy 4th, who knows 5th maybe Alonso, and Hamilton will have the drive of his life to come in 6th or 7th.

Seric · 03:18 PM

Massa has an excellent chance of snagging pole position, since he's been besting Kimi in quali. If he keeps his nose clean and gets a good lead on the Finn, he could pull it off. But Kimi is out for blood this weekend and will make sure Massa doesn't run away. Give the win to the Finn, with Massa in a close second if he doesn't step out to far on a turn or two.

Kubica will do well, probably a podium.

The rest is kinda up in the air for me. I really hope Nico and Seabass have a decent race.

legion · 06-18-2008, 05:11 PM

Ol' Bob Cooh-beetza...

Joe Ricard · Joe Ricard's Garage

Word for BMW
Only because Hamilton got his ears pinned back for not paying attention.
Then again Kovalinen could put it to the funny red cars.

BRPORSCHE · 06-18-2008, 07:05 PM

Heikki blows. Massa is the best qualifier in the pack...just look who is coach is/was. Kimi hasn't scored a point in two races.

Qualifying: Massa, Kimi, Kubica.
Race: Kimi, Massa, Kubica

Noah930 · Noah930's Garage

Not GP related, but sorry to hear of Ove Anderson's passing.

Jims5543 · 06-21-2008, 08:45 AM

Good call rusnak, Kimi took pole and in a brilliant move dove into the pits before he finished his last lap to save fuel for race day.

I predicted on another forum Fernando would qualify well due to this being the home race. After Hambome goes back 10 places Fernando goes to P3 to start the race. With Massa in P2.

I was disappointed in Bob, I was expecting him to run stronger after the last race, but then again, he capitalized on the circus in Montreal maybe he is in good position to do so again.

Its going to be interesting how many laps Kimi will run tomorrow, it will also be interesting to see if Hambone is running a 4 stop strategy or not. Can Fernando hold on to P3 and I am surprised to see Yarno up in P4.

It will also be interesting if it rains, as they are predicting tomorrow.

rusnak · 06-21-2008, 09:58 AM

I just re-read my original post, and I still think the finishing order will be the same for tomorrow, but I was startled to read Hammy's comments today. He sounded as if McLaren wanted him to qualify with the fastest time, to get 11th position in effect. That must mean they were light on fuel? I wonder about that because one of the biggest improvements that McLaren has made next to engine power has been strategy.

I wonder if Martin Whitmarsh has a 4 stopper planned? I think more frequent stops will allow for the lightest and quickest car configuration, and takes advantage of safety car periods to bunch cars up. One or two re-starts allows Hamilton the best passing oppurtunity, so long as he can cope with cold tires. We'll see what happens.

sammyg2 · 06-21-2008, 10:39 AM

Red cars, one and two.

Joeaksa · 06-21-2008, 11:27 AM

You guys are awful sure of yourselves.... Tomorrow could be very interesting.

rusnak · 06-21-2008, 02:00 PM

c'mon Joe, let loose and make a prediction. None of us know for sure what's gonna happen.

Jims5543 · 06-21-2008, 06:12 PM

BTW -Fox coverage of the race blows.

I like that the Speed boys are there but there is no pre-race Peter Windsor wandering the pits, no post race interviews, nothing, just the race, they will never draw in fans that way, don't they get that 1/2 the entertainment of these races is all the sub-stories that circulate around the races.

Plus live timing will not work due to the delay.

I cannot wait for it to go back to speed live again.

Stanley · 06-21-2008, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Cesiro

BTW -Fox coverage of the race blows.

I like that the Speed boys are there but there is no pre-race Peter Windsor wandering the pits, no post race interviews, nothing, just the race, they will never draw in fans that way, don't they get that 1/2 the entertainment of these races is all the sub-stories that circulate around the races.

Plus live timing will not work due to the delay.

I cannot wait for it to go back to speed live again.

The Fox coverage is horrible. You should torrent the ITV coverage from racing-undground.com. It should be available about an hour after the race finishes. They have pretty good coverage with about an hour of pre-race stuff including a grid walk. They also have all the interviews and post race wrap up.

Any one know why the BMW's were so slow? They have been having great pace up to now and improving almost every race.

It was also nice to to see Toyota step it up. Trulli sure is an awesome qualifier.

You guys think that Renault was running Alonso with a very light fuel load to try and get him on the front of the grid since its the French GP?

I think the race is going to be a Ferrari 1-2, they are just too good at Magny Cours
year in and year out.

rusnak · 06-21-2008, 08:50 PM

I wonder how many times Bob Varsha will say "Mah Nee Koor" and "Bonjour" and stuff. I swear he digs on foreign accents. In contrast, I think David Hobbs and Steve Matchett purposefully say "Kubi-ka" to sort of stick their finger in Bob's eye.

As for BMW, I can only think it must be that they lost time in the sharp turns. Look at a track map, and you'll see how many hairpins there are there. I guess they don't have the high downforce needed to keep up the speed. Kubica was talking about the oversteer, as if the rear of the car can't stay planted. He was very downcast. Heidfeld did even worse.

I think Renault probably did run "Fred" Alonso light.

livi · 06-22-2008, 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noah930

Not GP related, but sorry to hear of Ove Anderson's passing.

+1.

And some of you guys are pretty good with the crystal ball!

Joeaksa · 06-22-2008, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Cesiro

BTW -Fox coverage of the race blows.

I like that the Speed boys are there but there is no pre-race Peter Windsor wandering the pits, no post race interviews, nothing, just the race, they will never draw in fans that way, don't they get that 1/2 the entertainment of these races is all the sub-stories that circulate around the races.

Plus live timing will not work due to the delay.

I cannot wait for it to go back to speed live again.

Jim,

Use the F1 or BBC sports live feed.

They are 10x better than Fox IMHO.

Joe

rusnak · 06-22-2008, 11:36 AM

Jarno Trulli's little bump move to defend his position was a little aggressive. How can they let that go, let Raikonnen's car go (I was just waiting to see him bean Vettel with the exhaust pipe), and hand Hamilton a penalty for a move that could NOT have been avoided? Seems awfully.....French to me.

sammyg2 · 06-22-2008, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rusnak

Jarno Trulli's little bump move to defend his position was a little aggressive. How can they let that go, let Raikonnen's car go (I was just waiting to see him bean Vettel with the exhaust pipe), and hand Hamilton a penalty for a move that could NOT have been avoided? Seems awfully.....French to me.

Hamilton's move could have been avoided if he actually had control of his car. He made the stupid move of diving into a corner and braking so late there was no way he could hold his line (which is his signature move BTW). He was counting on the other car getting out of his way and letting him past. The only difference is, very few other drivers are letting him bully his way past them this year.

rusnak · 06-22-2008, 12:39 PM

Sam, I would be inclined to agree with you if there were contact initiated by Hamilton. Then sure, penalty. Or if the other driver were caused to swerve to avoid contact. But this move was a cut across the curb to avoid contact after a ballsy pass.

BTW, bullying is the basis for a penalty? I think not. Can you say Schumacher? If anything, a warning would have been better. I hate to see the race stewards insert themselves into a race outcome.

Jims5543 · 06-22-2008, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Hamilton's move could have been avoided if he actually had control of his car. He made the stupid move of diving into a corner and braking so late there was no way he could hold his line (which is his signature move BTW). He was counting on the other car getting out of his way and letting him past. The only difference is, very few other drivers are letting him bully his way past them this year.

He was optimistic heading into that chicane, his penalty was not due to his move before the chicane it was taking the position after it. If he had yielded after the chicane and let Vettel by he would not have received the penalty. Honestly, most of the field is on to his moves now and he cannot surprise attack them anymore.

Was Jarno's move was unsportsmanlike as well? I will have to go back and look at it, it seemed like he was not giving up the line and Kovalainen was trying to push in on the line. 2 cars cannot be in the same place, it was a good try but it did not stick, a penalty? It was racing.

Great race, especially the dog fight from 3rd to 5th places. Nelson's move under Alonso as he was lapping a Force car probably did not go over well with FA. I would imagine he was not pleased.